George a



'(No Model.)

G. A. LE PEVRE.

LOOK. V No. 558,084. 4 Patented Apr. 14, 1896.

WITNESSES:

wwfgyf IWW A TTOHNE Y.

INVENTOI? ANDREW EGNMMM.FHOTO-UTHQWASNIIIGTOMQC UNITED ST TES PATENT@FFICE.

GEORGE A. LE FEVRE, OF N EWV YORK, N. Y.

LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,084, dated April14, 1896.

Application filed June 29,1895. Serial No. 554,424. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: 3

Be it known. that I, GEORGE A. LE FEVRE,

of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Locks, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in looks; and the object of myinvention is to produce an extremely cheap and simple lock which isespecially adapted for use on mailbags and similar portable things, butwhich may be used on a great variety of articles; also to produce a lockwhich is constructed in such a manner that it is positive in operation,is not likely to get out of repair, and while being simple is yetconstructed in such a way that it is not easily picked.

To these ends my invention consists of certain features of constructionand combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described andclaimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which similarfigures of reference refer to corresponding parts throughout the severalviews.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the lock mechanism with the inclosingcase in section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the lock with one side of thecase removed and with the tumblers in locked position. Fig. 3 is aninverted plan of the lock. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but withthe keeper-plate removed and the tumblers in unlocked position; and Fig.5 is a detail view of a form of locking-bolt to be used in connectionwith the lock.

The lock is provided with a suitable case 10, which may be of anypreferred design, but which is preferably made of the shape shown toprovide for the shape and movement of the tumblers, and the case has oneside removable, as is usual, the two parts being held together by screws11, which are disposed in such a way as to also serve as a pivot for thetumblers and supports for the tumblersprings, as will appear below.

The case is provided with a keyhole 12, adapted to receive adouble-bitted key, and with the usual key-guide 13, which, as shown, isin the form of a screw, but which may be cast on the case. The case hasalso at a point preferably near one end a hole 14, which extends throughthe keeperplate 15, and is adapted to receive the locking-bolt 16, whichhas recesses 17 to receive the bits of the tumblers, as hereinafterdescribed. This bolt 16 is fastened to the part which is to be securedto the lock, and the lock is of course made fast to some other oppositepart in the ordinary way, and the lock is fastened so that the heads ofthe screws 11 will not be exposed. It will of course be understood thatthe bolt 16 may be made in any form which will permit it to engage thelock-tumblers, and the bolt itself forms no part of the invention.

The keeper-plate 15 is arranged longitudinally in the case and formspractically a division of the case, being suitably supported and havingon one. side a .lug to press against one wall of the case and brace theplate. The keeper-plate serves to separate the lock-tumblers 18 and 19,which will be presently described in detail, thus enabling them to movefreely without interfering with each other, and it serves moreespecially as a guard against picking the lock, as one tumbler isarranged above the keeper-plate and the other below, (see Fig. 1,) andconsequently the lock can only be operated by means of a double-bittedkey, the bits of which are suitably disposed.

The lock-tumblers 18 and 19 are oppositely curved and at one end arepivoted to the screw 11, while at the opposite end they terminate inbits 20, which slide on one Wall of the case 10 and are adapted to closetoward each other from opposite sides of the hole 14, so as to enter therecesses 17 of the bolt 16 and thus fasten the bolt to the lock-case.The tumbler 19, which is placed above the keeper-plate 15, has an offset21 near its free end, which thus brings its bit on the same plane as thebit of the tumbler 18, and near this offset the keeper-plate is cutaway, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, to provide for the free movement ofthe tumbler.

The two tumblers are pressed toward each other by springs 22, which arefastened to opposite screws 11 and having their end portions arrangedbetween the tumblers and the walls of the case 10. The inward movementof the tumblers is limited by a lug 23, (see Fig. 4,) which is arrangedin the path of the tumbler-bits 20, and the tumblers are separated bymeans of a double-bitted key, which is inserted in the keyhole 12 andthe bits of which when the key is turned separate the tumblers andrelease the bolt 16, as shown at 24 in Fig. i.

The operation of the lock is as follows: When the bolt 16 is to belocked to the case, it is simply pushed into the hole 14, the boltoperating to separate the bits 20 of the tumblers 18 and 19, whichtumblers swing on a pivot-screw 11, and when the bolt is pushed inwardfar enough to bring the recesses 17 opposite the bits 20 of the tumblersthe bits immediately spring into the recesses and fasten the bolt. Whenin this position, the inner end of the bolt is in that part of thehole14 which extends through the keeper-plate 15, and thus the bolt is notonly fastened so that it cannot be pulled out, but is held at its innerend in such a way as not to wabble and strain the lock. When the bolt isto be released, the key 24 is inserted and turned so as to separate thetumblers, after which the bolt can be withdrawn. 7

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A lock,comprising a case having a bolthole and keyhole therein, a keeper-platearranged longitudinally in the case and practically dividing it into twocompartments, and oppositelyarranged tumblers, one being placed abovethe keeper-plate and the other below it, the said tumblers having bitswhich swing into the bolt-hole, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the lock-case and the keeper-plate arrangedparallel with the upper and lower walls of the case, the saidkeeper-plate and case being provided with a keyhole and bolt-hole, of apair of oppositelyarranged swinging spring-pressed tumblers, one beingheld above and the other below the case, and having bolt-engaging bitsheld on essentially the same plane and adapted to swing into oppositesides of the bolt-hole, substantially as described.

GEORGE A. LE FEVRE.

lVi'tnesses:

WALTER O. MANN, ALBION L. MITCHELL, Jr.

